Little Monsters

Little Monsters

Starring Lupita Nyong'o, Alexander England, Josh Gad, Diesel La Torraca

Directed by Abe Forsythe

The Story:
Dave (Alexander England) is a loser who constantly gets into fights with his girlfriend and can never hold down a job or do anything remotely successful, and they eventually break up.  He goes to live with his sister and her son Felix (Diesel La Torraca), and while taking him to school meets schoolteacher Miss Caroline (Lupita Nyong'o), and is instantly smitten with her.  He volunteers to chaperone the class to a local farm, expecting to woo Miss Caroline in the process, but gets rejected and is even more dismayed when American kid's show host Teddy McGiggle (Josh Gad) arrives to tape a special show there.

Meanwhile, at the nearby army base, a zombie test goes wrong and dozens of the undead are unleashed and make their way right for the farm, while Miss Caroline and the others are unaware of the impending danger.  When the zombies arrive, it's up to Miss Caroline and Dave to protect the children at all cost.

The Synopsis:
Hollywood is filled with A-list actors who got their start in low-budget horror films.  Stars like Jennifer Aniston, Charlize Theron, Naomi Watts, Eva Mendes, Ben Affleck, Brad Pitt, and Leonardo DiCaprio got their start in horror films and used that to propel themselves to super-stardom.  Rarely do you find an already-established actor who will act in a horror film (especially a low-budget one), but along comes Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong'o, who also appeared in the acclaimed horror masterpiece "Us" earlier this year.  She decided to star in a zombie horror comedy about a teacher who must protect her kindergarten students from the undead, and the result is something that would've been a total flop if she wasn't there, but even though her presence graced the screen, wasn't enough to make it a memorable zomcom like "Shaun of the Dead" or "Zombieland."

The film follows the traditional zombie tropes of old - secret U.S. government test runs amok, undead feeding on the flesh of the living, a hapless gang of survivors, go for the head for the kill.  While the film does differentiate from others by focusing on a group of kindergartners (and therefore obviously some of the most helpless), there's never really a sense of danger for the kids or our main heroes.  The zombies not only move at a pace that'd make the original "Night of the Living Dead" zombies look like marathon runners by comparison, but they don't really attack well either.  The survivors fend them off with ease, which is probably on purpose because the film is more a comedy than zombie horror, but there should be at least some terrifying moments thrown in.

Nyong'o perfectly plays Miss Caroline with the cherry, optimistic attitude of a schoolteacher but also maintains a tough-as-nails mamma-bear figure when her kids come under attack.  She fends off zombies with ease, and there's nothing like seeing an Oscar-winning actress covered in zombie guts to make you appreciate her more (or hear her sing "Shake it Off" while actually playing a ukulele).  Alexander England plays the typical loser Dave, who of course undergoes a life transformation throughout this process and learns to take responsibility for his actions in the process.  Josh Gad is the scene-stealer as kids' television star Teddy McGiggle, whose persona completely changes off camera and he gives a truly memorable performance that you've never seen Josh Gad do yet, and it's absolute hilarity - the first time he does it.  The issue with this film is that they keep doing the same things, cracking the same jokes, and each time it gets less and less funny until the end you're just chuckling because you don't want to seem rude.

That's a major issue that the film has - it starts off swimmingly, providing laugh-out-loud moments again and again, but as the zombies invade, the film de-escalates and becomes tedious and monotonous.  We expect to see violent zombie kills the likes of "The Walking Dead," but there's hardly any violence to be seen here.  Decapitations take place off-camera, and the biggest fight occurs entirely off-screen, which is very disappointing to say the least.  Plus the kids are as annoying as can be (as most kids on film are), and good for them that I wasn't their teacher in that situation - because I'd be tossing them out until none of them were left.

The Summary:
Offering a few laughs and a great performance by Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong'o, "Little Monsters" starts off well but slowly descends to a mind-numbing by-the-books zombie attack that, much like the villainous zombies, leaves you braindead by the end.

The Score: B-